Went on a crash diet and got "skinny" -- 145lbs and looked scrawny, but of course felt I was huge

Met my (now) husband, and our courtship revolved around food -- we both quickly piled on the pounds

3 years later, we got married, and I was up to a size 18/20 and 180ish lbs

A year later, had our first son, and weighed right at 200lbs

A stay-at-home mom for the first time, I fought boredom with food -- quickly ballooned to 240+

Got on the scale one day and realized HOLY *BEEP* I'm "morbidly obese!" - weighed in at 246 - my highest weight ever

Started South Beach, and over the course of a year and a half, lost around 80lbs

Got pregnant, lost the baby, and my weight loss stopped -- stayed within a 5-10lb fluctuation for several months

Got pregnant with my youngest son, and went WAY off-plan -- I ate and ate and ate and quickly put on most of what I'd lost

After my son was born, over the next couple years I fluctuated and ended up 230ish

Went on Weight Watchers, and got close to 200lbs

Had a LOT of stomach trouble, so I went on an "elimination diet" to find out what my problem was -- lost 15lbs

Here I am! 190.2 this morning

So anyway, here I am, rejoining The Beach, and I'm really excited because I only have 45lbs to lose I know that sounds silly to some, but the last time I started SB, I had a 100lbs to lose, and since I already lost 80lbs doing this, I KNOW I can lose 45

I'm struggling a little bit more than last time because of two main factors. First, I can no longer have dairy (by doing the elimination diet, I found out I have a dairy allergy), so a lot of my old "standby" foods and snacks from last time won't fly... Second, is I'm REALLY trying not to do artificial sweeteners, because I've read numerous articles on how artificial sweeteners can actually make you crave them more.

And I tell ya, I'm really craving that can of frosting that's in my fridge

I'm strong though! I'm not going to eat it, and instead I'm drinking my last bottle of water for the day, bringing my water to a grand total of one gallon

Anyway, I look forward to getting to know y'all, and working together to meet our weight loss goals

Turns out, my husband did throw out the frosting lol He said it was too much temptation for him as well :P

I can have very limited quantities of soy, as I seem to be sensitive to soy and peanuts So, a splash of soy milk in a cup of decaf or something seems to be okay, but a glass of soy milk, using soy butter, or eating tofu is completely out... I've got some unsweetened Almond Breeze actually, but wasn't sure if I could have it in Phase 1 so I haven't had any yet :P

Unfortunately, most of my standby snacks from last time involved dairy or peanut butter, so I'm struggling to find snacks that aren't just raw veggies or eggs..